The construction industry introduced cove base to provide an easily cleanable “baseboard” of a synthetic material that left no gap between a vinyl floor and a wall. It is generally made of vinyl, is provided in long, generally flat strips that have a curved feature along one of the long edges. When installed, the curved area provides a continuous transition from floor to wall. Cove base is convenient to install along a wall but in corners, it can be difficult to produce a clean, finished appearance. Installing cove base at intersecting corners can be very difficult and time-consuming. While outside corners are more troublesome, inside corners also present difficulties.
A common method for installing cove base at an outside corner is to wrap a continuous length of cove base around the corner. This process can be very frustrating and time-consuming taking many steps to accomplish the task. One of the steps in the procedure is reducing the material in the back by carving or gouging to reduce the thickness at the region of the cove base making the 90-degree turn around the corner. Nonetheless wrapping most often results with an undesirable appearance, with the bottom cove portion collapsing into itself. In addition, the tension produced often stresses the bottom contour to the point of eventually splitting, thereby creating a gap in an open upside down V shape. If too much material is taken out of the back, a hole is created on the front side forcing the installer to start over with a new piece. Although reducing material from the back is imperative in this method, it contributes to reduced integrity of the cove base at the corner's vertex.
Inside corners can be less troublesome. Nevertheless, they present other problems particularly when the wall is out of plumb. When bending a length of cove base to fit in an inside corner generally a slice of a small depth is made on the backside at the vertex and the bottom of the cove base is cut out at about a 45-degree angle creating an upside down V notch. If not done precisely and in the position that will fall at the exact corner, this can result in a ruined length of material and a need to repeat the procedure. Between the extra labor incurred and possible other complications associated with facilitating installations at intersecting corners, a better method has been sought.
Several approaches have been used and proposed to address some of these problems including a contribution of the present inventor U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/983,122 published as US 2009/0113840 A1 on May 7, 2009. That reference discloses a unitary corner cover that is adhered over the rough-cut ends of the two respective lengths of cove base.
Remaining problems include color matching to the wide variety of cove base material and holding a corner cover accurately in place while the adhesive sets up.